Dreaming
by DrAnime203
Summary: "Sakura Haruno had nightmares of darker times." A little introspective GaaSaku one-shot. Written to rid myself of rabid plot bunnies. R&R.


Title: Dreaming  
Fandom: Naruto  
Characters: Gaara/Sakura  
Rating: T  
Author's Note: Just a plot bunny that had to be written – I am trying to chase them off but they wont leave me alone D:  
Summery: _"Sakura Haruno had nightmares of darker times"._

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**. **

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Sakura Haruno had nightmares of darker times.

She dreamt of black sand, the creaking noise of strained wood and dark caves that smelt of blood and poison. She dreamt of the 'what if's' and the 'buts' of that now legendary battle. The whispers that followed her everywhere and the public acknowledgement left a bitter taste in her mouth.

People told her killing an Akatsuki was an incredible feat – she assured them it would have ended very quickly and not in her favour with Elder Chiyo on her side.

On frequent diplomatic missions to Suna, people bowed and thanked her for saving the life of the Kazekage's brother – she added that it was lucky timing, 2 years of training under the Hokage and an 'it was my pleasure to aid our allies' for diplomatic kudos.

When encountering well-informed enemies on the battlefield, subordinates warned cocky leaders 'that pink haired girl defeated Sasori of the Red Sands!' – A bitter voice in the back of her head whispers 'barely'.

X-o-X

Gaara Sabaku had nightmares of darker times.

He dreamt of kind smiles melting into hate filled snarls, a name that haunted his early teens echoing through his subconscious – _Yashamaru. _He dreamt of sand claws stained with blood and petrified screams and wary looks as he walked the streets. Most of all, though, he dreamt of death, (both past and future), _his_ death, his fathers, his uncles, his friends.

It was ironic, he mused once after waking up panting and sweat-soaked, that he used to avoid sleep out of sheer convenience and now he _feared_ sleep because of the dreams.

He doesn't remember his own temporary death; he remembers his last thoughts and the numb dread in his stomach. He didn't feel hate for his killers, or regret for not winning his last battle (although the bitter disappointed in himself was to be expected). He felt a pain in his chest as he pictured the faces he would never see again – _sandy hair in ponytails, purple face paint, whisker marks on tan cheeks- _and in his dreams he saw them, his friends, lying in blood, eyes staring unseeingly at the sky and a voice in his head that sounded eeirily like Shukaku tells him that '_they could die any second, could be dead right now and there would be no live restoring jutsu to save them'_.

Years after his death and subsequent re-birth he is haunted by the 'what if's' and the 'buts', the whispered doubts in the back of his mind and dreams of them – dreams of watching from afar when his lifeless body doesn't open his eyes and his sister cries and his brother tries to be strong for both of them and his funeral, where people he never knew the names of cry for _him_ because he was a strong leader, and protected his people.

X-o-X

4 years after Sakura defeated Sasori and Gaara returned from death, there is a festival in Suna to celebrate the _final _defeat of the Akatsuki and they've both been avoiding sleep because they've lost _so much _in the final battle –for her it was a blonde haired best friend who wore purple, for him a sarcastic brother with messy brown hair- and they drink too much.

They wake up naked and draped across each other in his bed after a dreamless, mercifully quiet sleep free from the guilt that fills their waking hours and they both wonder, while pulling clothes on and not speaking, if it was a fluke, or the alcohol, but they are both too scared, _terrified, _of losing anyone else that they don't start something that could have been explosive and beautiful, and they both realise, eventually, that they are cowards.

X-o-X

For years after that night, Sakura dreams of 'what if's' and 'buts' and white picket fence endings that she hadn't dreamt of since she was in love with Sasuke Uchiha (whose name sits below Ino's on the memorial stone).

Gaara dreams of a pink-haired woman in the Kazehime's robes and a baby with his hair and her eyes that can control sand and has perfect chakra control.

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R&R please :)


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